Bab 10: Chapter 9: First Mission

This chapter is the last batch of the initial release of this fanfic!

I know I threw a lot of status screen messages at you guys, but this is just the start. Once Miles starts exploring, status messages will become less.

As far as story progression, let me know if you would like to see anything in particular!

And yes, I do know foxes have short lifespans. That is where Species Evolution comes into play.

If you like the story so far, don't forget to add it to your collection, drop a comment, a review and some power stones!

*****

Shaking his shock aside, Miles immediately reviewed the two new skills granted him.

[Fire Fang - Level 1(0/100)](+)

-Cloaks Host's fangs in an intense flame, dealing a searing pain onto target.

-Special Effect 1: Consume 10 Stamina do deal 150% Attack Damage to target.

-Special Effect 2: Chance to burn target upon landing a blow. Burn chance = Luck%.

[Fire Affinity](+)

-Becomes intune to the fire element while not having the ability to ****.

-Special Effect 1: Fire-based attacks deal an extra 15% damage.

'Definitely an unexpected bonus. I thought doing that imagination bit would just be a fluke. But one's imagination really does play a factor in how to create skills, eh?', Miles mused seeing this happen before him. Right now, he had nothing nearby, so he couldn't test Fire Fang out. Going back into his mind, Miles imagined the flames receding back into his body, and sure enough, the blaze around Miles's fangs dimmed, returning back to normal.

It was a pleasant surprise to Miles. The future was beginning to appear bright already.

Becoming happy once again, Miles felt his tail start to wag. But his attention remained elsewhere, so he decided to have another look at his full status screen before he reviewed the rest of his Inventory. He wanted to see the changes.

[Status]

First Name: Miles Last Name: None

Species: Silver Fox Kit(+)

Age: 1

Level: 1/10 (0/10)

HP: 25/25 MP: Locked Stamina: 93/100 (98->93)

Strength: 6 Endurance 6 Agility: 2 Luck: 5

Available Stat Points: 0 (12->0)

Attack Damage: 18 (=STRx3) Toughness: 18 (=ENDx3)

Critical Hit: 5% (=Luck)

Critical Resistance: 11% (=END+LUC)

Evolution Requirement: Level 10.

[Passives]

-[Superior Luck](+) -(+5 Luck per Level Up. +50% EXP)

-[Twilit Fervor] -(+2 Bonus Stats in Day, +3 during Night.) -(100% Stamina Recovery. +30% Damage to Bite/Claw Attacks)

-[Ice Resistance - Level 1 (0/100)](+) -(1% Reduced Ice Damage)

-[Basic Foxfire - Level 1 (1/100)](+) (New)

-[Firebending] (New)

-[Fire Affinity](+) (New) -(+15% Fire Damage)

[Actives]

-[Lucky Strike] (New)

-[Fire Fang](+) (New)

-(+150% Attack Damage. 5% to inflict Burn)

[Innate Ability]

-[Steel Claws - Level 1 (0/100)(+)

-(+50% DMG during Day, +100% during Night.) -(5% to inflict Bleed)

[Status Effect]

-[Burn](New) - Deals STR damage to inflicted target over ten seconds.

[Inventory]

-[History of Canada Vol 1], [Bestiary of the Northern Territories], [World Atlas - 1800s], [History of the Howlett Family], -[Double Experience Bottle - (1 hour)] x1, -[All Stat Booster (Common)] x1, -[Beginner's Pack - Level 5]

"Yip!", Miles happily exclaimed, seeing his updated status page. His tail began wagging more and more, burrowing itself into the snow around him.

Feeling satisfied, his gaze wandered toward the remainder of his Inventory. Miles didn't really need to explain what [Reputation] and [Missions] did, they were just as they were intended. The former will help Miles create relationships with those around him. Perhaps not now, but in the coming future. The latter will help him grow even more. Without hesitation, he tapped the icons of those two, receiving two notifications respectively, unlocking [Reputation] and [Missions] accordingly.

Something to note, it cost Miles 5 stamina to create [Fire Fang] when using [Firebending], and if he wanted to use the skill itself from here on, it required a whopping ten stamina points each time. He only had a maximum of 100 points of stamina. There probably were ways to increase the max limit, perhaps by Leveling Up. But before he could attempt his first Level Up, Miles's gaze was drawn to the two bottles.

One that he wouldn't use immediately, but his eyes landed on the red potion-like bottle instead. He reviewed its effects, and immediately used it. There was no reason not to.

[All Stat Booster (Common) x1]

-Special Effect 1: +5 HP, +5 Stamina, +2 STR, +2 END, +2 AGI.

His new stats became as such.

HP: 30/30 (+5) MP: Locked Stamina: 93/105

Strength: 8 (+2) Endurance: 8 (+2) Agility: 4 (+2)

Sure enough, it was a small boost to his stats. He even got a boost in HP and a boost in his maximum stamina! Miles thought that was pretty rare to get, but he still got it. The only surprise was that this bottle didn't boost his Luck stat this time. That meant boosting Luck was exceedingly rare.

That just meant [Superior Luck] played even a bigger role in gaining more Luck. It probably won't be gained by normal Level Ups, and only rewarded through Missions. Just having a passive +5 Luck every time he Leveled Up was amazing. If he didn't have that skill, Miles likely wouldn't even gain Luck for a while.

"Yip!", Miles yipped again and his thumping tail continued.

[Ding! Due to Host's tail thumping out of happiness for a passing couple of moments, Stamina decreased by 1. Current Stamina: 92/105.]

"...", Miles couldn't even retort this time. The system didn't even have its own identity for crying out loud, and it was still messing with him? Well, he wanted to joke about it, but Miles knew it wasn't a joke. Just exerting the body like this would reduce one's stamina. He would be down 8 points of Stamina if he didn't consume that bottle, but now he was down by 13 stamina points.

Miles wondered, was the stamina meter directly tied to becoming hungry, or did it only affect his skills and the movement of his body?

As he thought that, Miles became distracted with the sight above him. The sun's position shifted a bit since seeing it last. It no longer hung up directly above him, and was now on the descent, signaling that it was early afternoon now.

Moreover, he was in the Northern Territories of Canada, a place much farther north than the United States he previously lived in. Reaching the horizon and descending behind it to let the night time take over probably came more quickly, so it was likely Miles didn't have much sunrise yet.

Miles knew he was brought into Earth-10005 in the Year 1885. Recalling that specific year, it should be the same year the future Wolverine would be born. But presently, that wasn't his identity, nor was it even Logan. Here in Cold Lake, he would receive the name James Howlett, a bastard son of the Howlett Family. He knew what would come to happen to James Howlett, but he didn't know much of the family itself, apart that it owned several plantations and was potentially the richest family here in Cold Lake Alberta.

That was the extent of what Miles knew of the Howlett Family, so he was thankful that he received the book, [History of the Howlett Family] with the Beginner's Pack he was given. Miles needed some time to start reading and going over these books, but now was not the time. Miles couldn't even think of his next action to take before his thoughts were interrupted by a rather loud noise sounding off coming from the sky.

HONKKKKKKK.

Miles couldn't even decide on his next action to take before his eardrums were assaulted by loud honks coming from the sky. Several sounds of wings beating and flapping followed as the honks chimed in harmony. Taking a moment, Miles looked up into the sky. Piercing through the rolling gray clouds, a flock of Canadian Geese were flapping away, not having a care in the world of their surroundings. They were flying in a V shape, coming from the opposite direction of the lake, likely coming from further north. Miles saw their current flight path, and it looked like they were about to descend and land right at the cusp of the stretching forest in his view, which seemed to go on endlessly.

It was then Miles heard another notification sound off in his mind, drawing his attention to it. Sure enough, it was a Mission. And his first one at that.

[Ding! Host has received his first Mission. A flock of Canadian Geese has entered the vicinity. Cut them off and route them.]

-Eliminate Canadian Geese: 0/10

-Eliminate Canadian Geese Leader: 0/1

Reward: 30 EXP, +5, HP +5 Stamina. +1 Level to Basic Foxfire. New Skill: [Masking]. [Return Stone] x1.

'Well, it looks like my first prey just walked right in. Don't mind if I do...', Miles thought. He knew this flock of Geese would help satiate him for the time being, which would allow Miles to focus on other things. He was still in a wide flatland with it mostly being snow.

As the Canadian Geese descended near the pine trees, the chirping of birds nearby stopped entirely, and subtle flaps sounded, signaling the birds left. Apart from the Geese making noises, the rest of Miles's surroundings were quiet. Even the fish jumping happily out of the water completely stopped. Geese were expert hunters that could easily swoop out lots of fishes with their beaks. And they were likely more primal in this day and age, unlike the Geese in the 21st century.

Thankfully it looks like the Geese off in the distance didn't spot Miles, since he was no bigger than a foot at most. Sure his glossy fur was black, but if he was small, it would be hard to spot him from the sky.

Miles had one last look toward the left, which had the town of Cold Lake in the far distance. He remained silent for a moment. It was too hard to see any humans from this distance. It was still a day's worth of travelling to actually reach the town.

"Yip.", Miles uttered to himself. 'One of these days, I'll come for you Logan, but now is not the time. I need to grow stronger, and make a place for myself first. They're called Dens, right?', Miles thought to himself. Miles then turned his head back toward the Geese.

Seeing the Geese land on the lake's icy edges, some of them began to dip their long necks down into the water, beginning to take sips and drink. Not all of them did this action together, a couple of the Canadian Geese remained on the ice, patiently waiting.

'Good. I might be able to pick one or two off.', Miles thought. He wasn't immediately going to rush them though. Doing such a thing would definitely cause the Geese to flap their wings and run away. Instead Miles shifted his head down to the open sandy snowflake his tail made moments ago. It was already starting to get filled up again with the snow falling down from the sky.

"Yip.", Miles uttered softly, doing a quick lunge, and proceeded to dive into the snow, completely hiding his body away, and vanished from sight. He was going to wade through the snow itself to approach the Geese. As he did that action, he heard another notification.

[Ding! Host has created a new Skill, [Burrow - Level 1 (0/100)](+)]

[Ding! Due to host hiding away inside the snow, Ice Resistance proficiency has gone up. EXP has been obtained. Exp has been obtained. EXP has been obtained...]

Slowly but surely, Miles sifted his way through the snow, creeping closer and closer to the forest's edge and where the Geese were waiting...

*****

Canadian Geese were first spotted all the way back in the 1700s.